fondly remembering Vancouver (while hubby is traveling the world)

As I have been eagerly awaiting my hubby's return from a long business trip over in Europe and dreaming of one day going to Europe, just the two of us, I found myself thinking back to April. We were able to take a few days away, thanks to my sweet parents, and head to Vancouver, British Columbia! I've been to lots of different countries, but had never been to the one big country to our north! I know there are so many different beautiful areas of Canada, but I was thrilled to head to Vancouver since the Winter Olympics had just been there, and every shot taken from the venue was breathtaking!

I must say, while I thought Vancouver was pretty, I think the breathtaking parts were probably further out, near Queens Island and up in the mountains. We stayed right in the city---which was actually SO cool and SO much fun! We walked across the entire city--different parts on different days. It is quite easy to get around (though very hilly, which I chalked up to great exercise)! The food there is ah-MA-zing and we heard more than once that Vancouver prides itself on delicious food--indeed! We stayed at a bed and breakfast, the West End Guest House, and loved it.

The owners had everything decorated traditionally, a real vintage gem! They served sherry and snacks from 5-7 and encouraged guests to sit and chat with each other. They were all about forming relationships--which I appreciated! The owners also had wonderful recommendations about what to do and where to eat. It was so nice getting the inside scoop, instead of hitting up touristy type places!

So, Chad and I took off! We went to Granville Island, a must visit! We took a brewery tour, explored a huge farmers market (think Seattle's Pikes Place), had a blast trying on hats of all styles, window shopped in a HUGE kid's market, with tons of stores, while missing our kiddos, and ate at one of our now declared favorite restaurants ever, the Sand Bar. Yum, yum, yum with an awesome view of the harbor!

We also hiked around Stanley Park, went to visit the famous steam clock in Gastown, explored the English Bay side of Vancouver and the seawall, finding these purple shells all over and spent some time in Coal Harbor, enjoying the view of the mountains and even catching a Memphis Grizzlies NBA playoff game on tv!

I know Chad has seen some Swiss mountains over the past week, but if you get a chance to check out these mountains on your way to British Columbia, you won't be disappointed!

cake pops --so fun, so cute, so yummy!

The super cute cake pops caught my eye a couple of years back when MckMama debuted them on her blog! I was definitely more interested in making them for photography purposes rather than eating them. After all, they are very pretty. Eye candy to me! However, after having my very first cake pop at Starbucks recently, I've fallen in love with them and have been dying to make them ever since!

Since my sister has also been eager to make them, we declared a girls' night (to be had after the boys were in bed) and convinced my mom to join us in the festivities! I'm going to share how I/we made them, though they are very similar to MckMama's recipe, and thus Bakerella's recipe. I will make a couple of adjustments the next go around, but overall, they received good reviews (you know, from my mom, my sister and me)!

I decided to get started prior to my sister and mom coming over, since the cake balls need to be refrigerated for a bit. So I attempted this after school, while all 3 boys were awake/playing/crawling into everything. That would be my first edit for next time. **Do not attempt to make cake balls while you have a crawling baby who has just learned to crawl up stairs, likes to play in toilets or your dogs' food bowl. The cake balls are a messy endeavor and I found myself calling to my almost 6 year old many times for help!! Next time, I will make them after kids are in bed and chill them overnight!

But I digress, here's how you start. . .
First, you bake a cake. Simple, right? Sure, though this was my first time to bake a cake. Ever. So, when it called for 3 egg whites, I was thrown for a loop. I called my friend and said, "What the heck?" and she told me to just throw in 3 eggs. Forget the separating. So I did. And, about 32 minutes later, the cake was done! Awesome and made our house smell delicious! Then, I let the cake cool--took maybe 15 minutes. Next, I started chopping up the cake with a spoon (our food processor wouldn't come on). Luke asked me why I was stabbing the cake! Ha! Basically, you just need to get the cake to very small pieces almost mealy looking. Then I started adding cream cheese frosting. Just scooped some in and stirred it around in the chopped up cake. ***This is my next edit. We decided I added a tad too much. I used about 3/4 of a can of cream cheese frosting. I think on my next go around I will use about half a can of frosting. However, you need enough to roll the dough balls. My recommendation would be to start slow.  You can always add more, but it's impossible to take away. Once it's stirred together, I dug in. Literally. My hands were sticky and messy, but it's worth it! I made little balls about 1 inch in diameter. Some were bigger. Both worked fine. It took about 45 minutes to do so, although once my hands were goopey, was when all of my littles were needing something from me, of course! So, it may have taken less time if I wasn't stopping to help somebody with their craft, etc. After all the cake balls (at least 50 from one cake mix) were made, I chilled them in the freezer for 3 hours. They need to be chilled to keep their shape when you dip them in chocolate.

Then the party began! Mom and Mary arrived and we began melting the chocolate in a double boiler while we put the lollipop sticks into the cake balls. **Be careful not to melt the chocolate too quickly. We had a pretty green color to use for some of the cake pops, but the chocolate got too hot too fast and turned to putty. It just didn't work. So, we melted the white and chocolate chocolate and began dipping the cake pops and having fun! We went crazy with sprinkles and designs and we even created a little town of cake pop people! Our cake peeps!

Yes, we were a little delirious, my sister does that to me! She is hilarious and a nut case. See below.

 It was a great time and we are thrilled with our cake pops! For the first time around, we think we did a good job. And, with the edits I mentioned, maybe your first time around will be perfect!

Cake pop recipe
1 box cake mix (I used white cake---but any kind can be used)
1/2 can cream cheese frosting (again, think any flavor will work?)
lollipop sticks
candy/chocolate melts (1 or 2 bags should work per cake)

As I explained in greater length above, bake the cake according to box, crumbled up the cake, stir in the frosting, form the cake balls with your hands, chill them for a few hours, put in the lollipop sticks, dip into chocolate and decorate! Sooooo fun! Pretty to look at and yummy to eat! Have any of you made these? Any comments or suggestions to add?

caught

One of our little treasures caught the stomach bug and after a day of washing, cleaning and quaranteening (it actually could have been a lot worse), I needed a little therapeutic outlet. Blogging is that for me, so here's what's been caught lately (other than the stomach bug). . .

Caught: a precious little one finally able to crawl. This is completely overblown, but I love it!!

Caught: Luke reading the newspaper in the kitchen all alone. After we snuck in on him, he told us all about the hunter who was lost in the woods and had to eat worms and grubs to stay alive! So thankful he is such an avid reader, but it sure is scary to find him reading the newspaper with some of the sad and disturbing news out in the world these days. Glad this article was the one he found!

Caught: Charlie giving his little brother a hug! I was actually slipping quietly into the kitchen to watch the interaction going on between Charlie and Miles and crept around our island to get a better view. When I saw what was happening, I said something like, "Aww sweetness!" and they both turned their faces to me, suprised I was anywhere near!

Caught: All 3 of my Angels, flyin' their Blue Angels and SR-71's. Precious moments.

Caught: Somebody playing peek a boo!

I kinda like these caught in the act random pics. Next time, I hope my post won't be inspired by someone who was caught with the stomach bug!

Fair fun!

This past weekend the fair came to town and some amazingly cooler weather came with it!

This Labor Day we were. . .

Pronto Pup eatin'

fast car racin'

farm animal feedin'

sky high swingin'

baby cow pettin'

and family time soakin'

Wishin' long weekends never had to end!!!



date your spouse OR the one where I get a little preachy

Today marks one more month until my sister gets married! Hooray!! And, it has me thinking back to when it was a month until Chad and I were getting married. That leads me to our wedding day, and then to our first year of marriage and then to our life together in grad. school and a couple more years of marriage without kiddos, and then to the past almost 6 years of life with kiddos! Whew! That's a lot of married years together! A lot of good married years together! Not to say there haven't been some rough times, but overall, Chad and I define our marriage as amazing, healthy, the best and completely blessed!

There are a lot of factors that make our marriage strong. The first and foremost is the Lord. We aren't perfect and we fail each other plenty of times, but our hearts strive to seek the Lord and He has blessed us! I could go on about that, and if you ever want to know more, ask me about it! I'm happy to share!

But some other things Chad and I both think are critical to our marriage are. . .date nights! For Mary and Kevin, date nights are easy to come by right now (well maybe not right now--since they are busy with last minute wedding planning). They can see each other every night if they want to. Grab dinner right after work. Head to a movie. Up and run here and there, whenever. They don't have kiddos. Yet.

But a lot of us do have children in the mix now! Date nights aren't always at the top of our minds. Or maybe they are, but maybe you don't want to leave your children with a babysitter because you feel guilty. Maybe your children scream at the top of their lungs when they see a babysitter and you think a date night isn't worth the turmoil. Or, maybe you don't want to or can't spend the money on a babysitter AND pay for dinner and a movie. Trust me, we know! Or, maybe after your insanely busy week, you are beyond tuckered out and the last thing you want to do is make an effort to get ready to head out the door on a Friday night and attempt a conversation with your spouse over dinner.

My suggestion is to make date nights happen. No matter what! I have felt all of the following feelings at some point, so I feel like I can say. . .To those who feel guilty. . . leave the guilt at the door and head out. Your children need to see a healthy marriage. They need to see Mommy and Daddy putting their marriage first. If they know you are solid, they know your family is solid. Find a good babysitter and leave all the guilt behind! To those who hate hearing your children cry when you leave. . .just take a deep breath and drive away quickly! Your children will probably stop crying soon after you leave. If they don't, they aren't scarred for life. Your little ones will learn that you will come back for them. Eventually. After you've had some relaxing time with your spouse! In fact, you may need to go on more date nights to get them used to it! Don't "oooh and ahhh" over them. Don't linger and give lots of hugs and kisses as you leave. In fact, don't make eye contact with the little one who might start crying---that will make him cry for sure! You are probably projecting your own guilt/sadness/worry onto them and just imagining what they are thinking, when in reality, it's just them not getting their immediate desire! To those who don't want to or can't spend the money on a babysitter. . .this one is harder. We are all on some sort of a budget (I would guess). Add the cost of a sitter in at least once a month. Cut out the extra take out meals or Starbucks or go without the car wash. Have a garage sale. Whatever. You don't need me telling you ways to cut here and there. You just have to do it. You can also have very special date nights with a nice meal together after the kids are in bed. Grab a glass of wine and just sit and talk about what's been going on! Or rent a RedBox movie and sit in the same room, on the same couch, together! To those who are just beyond tuckered out. . .Put your date night on a calendar in advance. That way you know ahead of time and can be "gearing up" to stay out and up! Go to bed earlier the night before. Drink coffee (this is what Chad used to do, til I banned him from coffee so he could actually sleep)! Vow to go to sleep earlier the following night.

All of this said (in a truly not preachy voice), we need time away and alone with our spouses. These are the people that will be with us after our children have moved away (though our children plan to live in our backyard :) ). They are our most important earthly relationship! Don't take each other for granted. Cultivate your relationship. Date each other again. Make your marriage a priority! It's worth it!!